Obama deportation numbers a 'trick'

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano last week announced that the Obama administration has deported a record number of illegal immigrants in the past year.

But the Obama administration is using smoke and mirrors to achieve its so-called historic record. Take away the illusion, and the facts show that the administration conjures up its deportation statistics.

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The administration appears to have artificially inflated its deportation numbers. It includes voluntary removals in the deportation statistics. But this is not removal because an illegal immigrant is not then subject to penalties for returning to the United States. For example, a single illegal immigrant can show up at the border and be voluntarily returned numerous times in one year — and counted each time as a removal.

Even The Washington Post found the Obama administration used questionable methods to achieve its deportation numbers last year. Just like pulling a rabbit out of a hat, the Obama administration’s record is a trick. In reality, President Barack Obama and his administration are giving amnesty to illegal immigrants through inaction. It’s no wonder that the president recently admitted to Hispanic voters that his administration’s deportation numbers are “deceptive.”

Take away the hocus-pocus, and it is clear the Obama administration is neglecting to enforce immigration laws. The administration has all but abandoned worksite enforcement actions. Over the past two years, worksite enforcement has plummeted 70 percent.

Under this administration, there have been fewer arrests of illegal workers, fewer criminal arrests, fewer indictments and fewer convictions. This means illegal workers continue to take jobs away from unemployed Americans.

Without worksite enforcement, we can’t stop employers from hiring illegal workers. And as long as the jobs magnet exists, millions of illegal immigrants most likely will come to the U.S. and take jobs from lawful workers.

The president and his administration have also decided to grant administrative amnesty to illegal immigrants.

Political appointees at the Department of Homeland Security recently established a working group with the specific purpose of overruling orders of removal for illegal immigrants. The administration’s new deportation policy strikes another blow at the 14 million unemployed U.S. workers. This massive backdoor amnesty to illegal immigrants could allow illegal immigrants to receive work authorization and could put even more U.S. citizens on the unemployment rolls.

In fact, when illegal immigrants are allowed to stay in the U.S. and apply for work authorization, the Obama administration grants it 90 percent of the time.

Napolitano — who is testifying before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning — and other administration officials now claim the border is more secure than ever. But only 44 percent of the Southwest border is under the operational control of the Border Patrol, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Last year, nearly half a million immigrants were caught trying to enter the country illegally, and those are just the ones we apprehended. There are an estimated three successful illegal entries for every illegal immigrant apprehended. That means more than 1 million illegal immigrants cross into the U.S. each year.

It’s disappointing that the Obama administration continues to put illegal immigrants ahead of the interests of U.S. citizens. Fourteen million Americans are now looking for work. Meanwhile, 7 million illegal immigrants have jobs in the U.S. We could free up millions of those jobs for citizens and legal immigrants if we simply enforced our immigration laws.

Unfortunately for U.S. workers, the Obama administration’s immigration enforcement record is just a magic trick.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.